But now — fewer than two years later — the 51-year-old Richville resident is on a recently added second shift at the plant, with no worries about being unemployed in 2011.

On Nov. 29, the plant, at 1001 Woodside Ave., began running a second shift with about five workers to keep up with increased demand for connecting rods for one of the company’s leading vehicles, the Chevrolet Cruze.

Joe Mazzeo, plant manager, said the facility is focusing its production on Cruze connecting rods, but full production of camshafts and connecting rods for the Cruze and Chevrolet Volt are anticipated to start next year, with hopes of adding more shifts.

“There is more talk,” Mazzeo said. “There’s no commitment yet to a third shift, but the opportunity is there.”

The plant is using about 50 percent of its capacity, Mazzeo added.

Loesel and others are optimistic the plant can operate at full capacity.

“I’m very happy with the year the plant has had,” said Todd McDaniel, shop chairman for United Auto Workers Local 362, which represents about 250 employees at the plant. “I do believe … we will fill the plant to capacity and be running two, three shifts.”

This year, GM announced almost $100 million worth of investments that are expected to create or retain 114 jobs at the plant. The announcements included the camshafts and connecting rods for the Volt and Cruze, along with production of engine castings and components for GM’s Generation V V8 engine — a new generation of fuel-efficient, small-block engines.

McDaniel said the plant may not need the 4,000 employees it once had in 1977, but it is poised to attract more work with the diversification of its product lines and dedicated workers.

“I think people feel really good about all the work we’ve gotten, but what I don’t want them to do is feel complacent … because you just never know what’s out there,” Mazzeo said. “The more work we can bring in, the more diversity of the type of the work we can bring in, the more ability we have to kind of weather highs and lows based on what’s going on in the economy.”

One thing Bay City Powertrain will not produce starting next year are aluminum components for four-speed transmissions, according to Mazzeo.

“That’s a loss for us, but the good news is — we don’t have an exact number yet — most of those people are going to get absorbed into other operations,” he said.

McDaniel said all of the components — whether for the Volt or full-size truck engines — are equally important to the plant’s future.

“To work with the Cruze and the Volt, to assist the extra capacity, that’s a really good thing,” said Willis Humphrey, 51, of Buena Vista Township, who has worked for GM for 33 years and is a second-shift connecting rod worker in Bay City.